Decaffeinated coffee beans are manufactured through the different methods of decaffeinating as coffee is naturally caffeinated. In order to achieve the decaffeinating effect in your coffee, the beans have to undergo several soakings in solvents and water in order to extract majority of the caffeine. You have to realize, however, that not all the caffeine in the coffee bean is actually extracted during the process. It is simply impossible to do so. Below are some of the ways on how to decaffeinate coffee beans.
One decaffeination process used on coffee is the water process. All decaffeination processes make use of water. The water process basically makes use of water and solvents that are found in fruits to make the decaffeination process more “natural.” The procedure starts with the beans being soaked in water to help dissolve majority of the caffeine in it and then certain chemical solvents are used that would help extract the caffeine content in the bean after which it shall again be soaked in the same water it previously came from in order to absorb the flavor that was lost during the initial extraction.
The common solvents that are used for decaffeination are ethyl acetate or methylene chloride which both has low boiling points. A tedious process that will thus lead to decaffeinated coffee. What is not known to everyone however is that when beans undergo decaffeination, it actually harms the quality of the coffee beans. When beans undergo decaffeination, the original flavor and aroma is altered thus you are not really able to get the most of your coffee.
Another decaffeination process that is used to achieve decaffeinated coffee is the Swiss Water process. The Swiss Water process basically makes use of water and carbon filters to strip the caffeine content. The green beans are soaked in hot water after to remove the caffeine and majority of the chemical compounds that give the coffee its flavor, after which the beans are discarded and carbon filters are then used to extract the caffeine. The process is repeated with a new batch of beans using the same water solution. The premise is that the solution has the other entire compounds essential in keeping the flavor of the coffee other than the caffeine.
The other type of decaffeination process is the carbon dioxide process. This process makes use of highly compressed carbon dioxide to extract the caffeine from the green beans after which carbon filters are used to further remove the caffeine from the carbon dioxide solution.
These are just a couple of the most used decaffeination processes in order to achieve decaffeinated coffee. Decaffeinating coffee beans is a meticulous process that requires patience and lots of knowledge in chemical reactions in order to get the whole process right.
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